1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a system for delivering a digital content and, more particularly, to a readable information production system and a digital content delivery system, appropriate for outputting digital contents in an easy-to-view layout to users.
2. Description of Related Art
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 4-192751 discloses an electronic newspaper system intended to be accessed by individuals (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9ca first conventional artxe2x80x9d) as a system for providing digital contents, such as news. Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-200701 discloses a mail-order sale catalog production system (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9ca second conventional artxe2x80x9d) as a technique for providing digital contents.
The electronic newspaper system of the first conventional art, which receives news information transmitted from a news information data base that stores news information of newspapers, and displays the news information on a screen in a reorganized form, includes an information storage unit for storing interests and knowledge, owned by a plurality of users, as page layout information intended for a plurality of individuals, a learning unit for learning the page layout information intended for the individuals from the history of searches performed by each user, a screen control unit which controls a screen to acquire the page layout information intended for the individuals, reorganizes newspaper information in accordance with each user from the data base, based on the page layout information intended for the individuals, and displays the reorganized newspaper information, and a management unit for managing the information storage unit, the learning unit, and the screen control unit.
In this arrangement, the newspaper information is easily acquired according to the interest and knowledge of each user, and more detailed newspaper information is thus provided.
The mail-order sale catalog production system of the second conventional art prepares a product information file that includes product information (photographs and illustrations of products, and the description thereof) to be listed in a catalog for each product, a customer information file that includes private information relating to particular attributes of each customer, and a product criterion file that sets, for each product, a criterion which matches each attribute of the private information. A listed product extraction unit compares the private information in the customer information file with the criterion in the product criterion file, and extracts only products that match the criterion of each customer. A layout processing unit reads and lays out production information of extracted products. An electronic color printer prints out the laid-out product information on a sheet of paper. The sheets are book-bound into a booklet, which is then sent to individual customers as a catalog.
A catalog that is unique to each customer and that only has products matching the customer""s preference is thus produced.
Most of newspaper information that is delivered by a digital content delivery system typically includes text information like news information delivered in an electronic mail form. This is because a vast amount of data cannot be transmitted within an available time due to a slow rate of data transmission over a network, etc. For this reason, in many cases, it suffices to read newspaper information on a screen, and there is no much need for printing out the newspaper information. Even if the newspaper information is printed out, a user simply reads a text portion, and is not very much concerned with the layout thereof. Since, due to hardware development, the data transmission rate over a network has increased, not only text information but also picture information can also be delivered. When reading the newspaper information on a screen, users experience difficulty to entirely comprehend the entire newspaper information, and thus possibly desire to view the delivered newspaper information on a printed sheet.
In the first conventional art, a WWW browser or the like may be used to read the newspaper information. With the WWW browser, if the newspaper information that is displayed on screen is printed, a single piece of newspaper information may be printed that straddles a plurality of sheets, rather than on a single sheet, and a user may experience difficulty to view printout results. Particularly when a single piece of newspaper information is formed of a picture and text information, the picture may be printed on a sheet different from a sheet on which the text information is printed. In such a case, the user has difficulty in entirely comprehending the correspondence between the text information and the picture. The user is thus unable to understand not only the newspaper information as a whole, but also the contents of individual pieces of information themselves.
In the digital content delivery system of the second conventional art, the above problem is resolved to some degree when the product information of an extracted product is read and laid out. However, the output layout of the catalog is determined by the provider of the catalog. The catalog is printed out in a predetermined output layout which is easy to view. Although the catalog is easy to view on the average, not all users find it to easy to view. Specifically, one user may find the text information that is printed in a large font easy to view, while another user may find it easy to view a catalog in which a layout portion assigned to text information is set to be smaller while a layout portion assigned to a picture is set to be larger.
The present invention has been developed in view of unresolved problems in the conventional art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a readable information production system and a digital content delivery system, appropriate for outputting digital contents in a layout that a user finds easy to view.
To achieve the above object, a readable information production system of the present invention for delivering readable information, includes a layout information storage device that stores a plurality of pieces of layout information relating to an output layout of readable information. To produce the readable information, the readable information production system enters user information and a selection of layout information, registers, in the layout information storage device, the input user information and the selected layout information with the user information being associated with the layout information, and determines an output layout of the readable information based on the layout information in the layout information storage device.
When the user information and the selection of the layout information in this arrangement are input, the user information is associated with the layout information and is then registered in the layout information storage device. Based on the layout information in the layout information storage device, the output layout of the readable information is determined and the readable information is thus produced.
The readable information is thus output in an output layout that is relatively close to the user""s satisfaction. The readable information is thus output in an output layout in an easy-to-view fashion to the user.
The system may be implemented in a single apparatus, or may be implemented in a network system communicably connected to a plurality of terminals. In the former case, the user information and the selection of the layout information may be input to a single apparatus by a user or a system controller. In the latter case, a user inputs the user information and the selection of the layout information to a server terminal for registration in accordance with the present invention by accessing a client terminal. The same is true of a digital content delivery system in accordance with the claimed invention.
The output layout includes a display layout such that the readable information is displayed on a screen, and a print layout such that the readable information is printed on a sheet of paper.
The produced readable information may be delivered to the users, or may be stored in storage device so that a user gains an access thereto through a client terminal.
A readable information production system in accordance with another aspect of the present invention further includes a readable information storage device that stores a plurality of pieces of readable information. The user information includes information relating to readable information desired by a user. To produce the readable information, the readable information production system reads, from the layout information storage device, the information related to the desired readable information and the layout information corresponding to the information relating to the desired readable information, selects the readable information from the readable information storage device based on the read information relating to the desired readable information, and determines an output layout for the selected readable information based on the read layout information.
In this arrangement, the information relating to the desired readable information and the layout information corresponding to the information relating to the desired readable information are read from the layout information storage device, and the readable information is selected from the readable information storage device based on the read information relating to the desired readable information. Based on the read layout information, the output layout is determined for the selected readable information, and the readable information is thus produced.
Accordingly, only readable information that is relatively close to the user""s satisfaction is laid out. This arrangement reduces the difficulty of viewing the information, which would be increased if undesired and unnecessary readable information were laid out together with the desired one in a mixed fashion. The readable information is thus output in an easy-to-view layout to the user.
To achieve the above object, a digital content delivery system of the present invention for delivering a digital content, includes a layout information storage device that stores a plurality of pieces of layout information relating to an output layout of the digital content, an input device that inputs user information containing a destination address of the digital content and a selection of the layout information, a registering device that registers, in the layout information storage device, the user information input by the input device and the layout information selected by the input device with the user information being associated with the layout information, a content production device that produces the digital content by determining the output layout of the digital content based on the layout information in the layout information storage device, and a content delivery device that delivers the digital content which is produced by the content production device in accordance with the destination address responsive to the layout information used to produce the digital content in the content production device.
When the user information and the selection of the layout information are input by the input device in this arrangement, the registering device associates the input user information with the selected layout information. The user information and the layout information are then stored in the layout information storage device. The content production device determines the output layout of the digital content based on the layout information in the layout information storage device, and produces the digital content. The content delivery device delivers the produced digital content in accordance with the destination address corresponding to the layout information used in the production of the digital content.
Since the digital content is output in an output layout that is relatively close to the user""s satisfaction in this way, the system outputs the digital content in an easy-to-view output layout to the user.
The output layout includes a display layout according to which the digital content is displayed on a screen, and a print layout according to which the digital content is printed on a recording medium, such as a sheet of paper.
A digital content delivery system in accordance with another aspect of the present invention further includes a content storage device that stores a plurality of digital contents. The user information includes content information relating to a digital content the delivery of which is desired by a user. To produce the digital content, the content production device reads, from the layout information storage device, the content information and the layout information corresponding to the content information, selects the digital content from the content storage device based on the read content information, and determines an output layout for the selected digital content based on the read layout information.
In this arrangement, the content production device reads the content information and the layout information corresponding to the content information from the layout information storage device, and selects the digital content from the content storage device based on the read content information. The content production device determines the output layout for the selected digital content based on the read layout information, and produces the digital content.
Only the digital content that is relatively close to the user""s satisfaction is laid out. This arrangement reduces the difficulty of viewing information, which would be increased if undesired and unnecessary readable information were laid out together with the desired information in a mixed fashion. The digital content is thus output in an easy-to-view layout to the user.
In a digital content delivery system in accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the user information contains schedule information relating to a time band in which a user desires delivery, and the content delivery device delivers the digital content produced in the content production device in accordance with the schedule information corresponding to the layout information used to produce the digital content in the content production device.
In this arrangement, the content delivery device delivers the produced digital content in accordance with the schedule information corresponding to the layout information used to produce the digital content in the content production device.
Since the digital content is thus delivered within the time band in which the user desires delivery, the system can provide a delivery service to the user""s satisfaction.
The readable information production system and the digital content delivery system in accordance with the invention achieve the above-referenced object. The present invention is not limited to these systems. To achieve the above object, the following storage medium is also covered by the claimed invention.
The storage medium stores a computer readable, content delivery program. The storage medium also stores a layout information storage program for storing a plurality of pieces of layout information relating to an output layout of a digital content, an input program for inputting user information containing a destination address of the digital content and a selection of the layout information, a registering program for registering, in the layout information storage program, the user information input by the input program and the layout information selected by the input program with the user information being associated with the layout information, a content production program for producing the digital content by determining the output layout of the digital content based on the layout information in the layout information storage program, and a content delivery program for delivering the digital content which is produced by the content production program in accordance with the destination address responsive to the layout information used to produce the digital content in the content production program.
In this arrangement, the content delivery program stored in the storage medium is installed in a computer, and when the computer executes the read program, the computer performs the same operation and the same advantages are provided as those provided by the digital content delivery system discussed above.